Employees are exposing their businesses to potential cyber-attacks by continuing to use unapproved apps such as Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat, a report has found.

Research conducted by the cloud and managed services specialist Maintel found that four in 10 employees “confessed” to using social media more than two hours each day.

Furthermore, Maintel found that although the majority of employees knew that various apps are not permitted for use in the workplace, usage of WhatsApp, Snapchat and Instagram were actually on the rise over the past three years - 30 per cent, 27 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

Employees also gave their rationale for breaking the rules. They said WhatsApp offered ease of use (84 per cent), speed of response (44 per cent) and informality (35 per cent) in the workplace.

Rufus Grig, chief technology officer at Maintel, said the risks of using undocumented, unsecure apps “should be obvious enough” – especially in light of GDPR.

“If this research tells us one thing, it’s that whilst organisations can go ahead and prohibit the use of as many tools as they like, this will never be enough to actually make this vision a reality,” Grig said. “Businesses need to recognise that employees are still using these tools in the knowledge they are unauthorised and make a conscious effort to understand why.

Employers need to ensure the communication needs of a multigenerational workforce are catered for.” He added that in order to achieve this, “ it’s clear we need to invest more time into making sure that approved tools offer the best user experience possible, or in those words, offering platforms that are motivating, compelling and easy to use in the workplace”.